Means for keeping switch and signal apparatus free from snow and ice.



6 O 9 1 0 3 W 0 D E T N E T A B Gw N U 0 Y L P 0 4 H 4 3 00 n N MEANS FOR KEEPING SWITCH AND SIGNAL APPARATUSPREE PROM SNOW AND IGB. APPLICATION rum) APR.7,1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

P. L. YOUNG.

MEANS FOR KEEPING SWITCH AND SIGNAL APPARATUS FREE FROM SNOW AND ICE. APPLICATION rum) APR. 1, 1906.

PATENTED OCT. 30. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

%C. [MM/w Wm 71% rut warm! PETERS ca., v/Asnmoron, n. c

UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE.

FRANK L. YOUNG, OF BOSTON, vMASSACHUSETTS. ASSIGNOR TO THE INTERNATIONAL SWITCH AND SIGNAL COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

MEANS FOR KEEPING SWITCH AND SIGNAL APPARATUS FREE FROM SNOW AND ICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 30, 1906.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK L. YOUNG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Means for Keeping Switch and Signal Apparatus Free from Snow and Ice, of which the following' description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like numerals on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object to provide a novel means for keeping the movable parts of switch or signal apparatus free from snow and ice, so that there will be no danger of their becoming clogged or frozen in cold or stormy weather.

In accordance with my present invention I rovide means forming with the rails or ties eating-chambers which are provided with openings adjacent the movable parts of the switch and employ gas jets or burners located within the chambers to keep the rails warm.

The heat generated by the burners escapes through the openings in the chambers, and as these openings are adjacent the movable parts of the switch or signal apparatus it will e impossible for the latter to become frozen I will first describe one embodiment of my invention and then point out the novel features thereof in the appended claims. I Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a switch having my improvement applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a section on the line a; m, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 y, Fig. 1. Figs. 4 and 5 are details of the parts of the chambers. Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the automatic lighting device, and Fig. 7 is a modification.

The invention may be applied to a switch or signal device of any character; but for the sake of illustration I have herein shown it as used in connection with an ordinary split switch in which the movable switch-rails are pofinted and overlap or lie against the fixed ra s.

In the drawings, 3 and 4 designate fixed rails, and 5 and 6 designate the movable pointed switch-rails. These switch-rails are connected to connecting-bars 7 and may be operated by any suitable or usual means. (Not shown.)

In order to keep the rails free from snow, a chamber or chambers are formed either beneath or adjacent to the rai.s, and a burner or burners are placed within the chamber or chambers.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5 a separate chamber is formed between each two adjacent ties, and in the embodiment shown in Fig. 7 a single chamber is formed between the rails.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 5, the sides of each separate chamber are formed by the ties 13 themselves and the top partly by plates 12, which extend from one tie to the adjacent tie, and partly by chamber-sections 14 and 15. Each chamber-section has a ver tical wall 17 adapted to fit between adjacent ties 13 and the top portion 16, whichpreferably overlaps the ties slightly, as shown at 19, and fits up against the adjacent rail.

The chamber-sections 14 constitute the ends of each chamber, and the other chamber-sections 15 are employed to close the space between the movable rails and the plates 12.

The vertical walls 17 of the outside chamber-sections 14, which form the ends of the chambers, extend down to the ballast between the ties, thus closing the ends of the chambers.

The chamber-sections 15 are secured to the movable rails and move therewith. With the switch herein shown and with the arrangement illustrated the chamber formed between any two adjacent ties is closed, except at the points between the movable rails and the fixed rails, and this condition will always obtain in every position of the movable switch-rails. The plate 12 is situated sufficiently below the connecting-bar 7 and other mechanism for operating the switch so as not to interfere with the operation of said mechanism, said connecting-bar passing through some of the chamber-sections.

20 designates suitable burners which are located in the various chambers, the pipes connecting the burners being shown as tapped into a main 21, which runs along the length of the switch. If necessary, certain of the chamber-sections may be provided with air-holes 22, so as to furnish suflicient air to the chambers to support the combustion therein. The burner-pipes 20 may have burner-openings throughout their entire length, or they may have the burner-openings situated only beneath the movable rails in the larger portions 25 of the chamber. In either event when the burners are ignited the heat generated thereby will accumulate within the chambers between the ties, and the heated air can only escape around the movable rails. It will thus be seen that so long as the burners are in operation the movable rails can be kept sufliciently warm so as to absolutely prevent their becoming clogged with snow and ice. Moreover, the heat generated by the burners will keep the plates 12 and also the chamber-sections 14.- and 15 sufficiently warm so that no snow will accumulate thereon, the snow being melted as fast as it falls. The burners may be ignited in any suitable way-as, for instance, by inserting a torch either down between the fixed rails and the movable rails or through one of the air-openings 22 in the chamber-sections or in any other suitable way.

Suitable means may be employed for auto matically lighting the burners, if desired. This will be of advantage in case any one of the burners should accidentally go out, for then the burners may be lighted again automatically. For accomplishing this I place adjacent each burner a sparking device 50, which is in a circuit 51, including a makeand-break device 52. The make-and-break device may be located at any suitable point and is operated by a cam 55, which may be driven by spring-motor or clockwork or in any suitable way.

If the cam 55 is operated so that the makeand-break device Will be closed once every two minutes, for instance, then each of the sparking devices will be operated once in every two minutes, and if at any time any of the burners should be blown out or should accidentally go out it will be relighted again in a very short time. It will be understood, of course, that the make-and-break device could be operated as often as desired.

The plates 12 maybe either straight or curved. I have herein shown them as being curved upwardly; but this is not essential to the invention.

Instead of forming a separate chamber between each two adjacent ties my invention may be embodied in a construction in which a chamber is formed that extends longitudinally of the track and across several ties. In Fig. 7 such an embodiment of my invention is shown, and in this embodiment a plate or cover is placed between the two movable switch-rails 5 and 6 and extends the length thereof, said plates spanning the space between said rails and forming with them a chamber which extends longitudinally of the track. In this embodiment the chambersections 14 are usedv on'the exterior of the fixed rails, said chamber-sections closing the space between the ties.

The principal difference between this embodiment and that shown in Figs. 1 and 5 is that in the former all the spaces between the ties communicate with the chamber from beneath the plate 60, while in the latter a separate chamber is formed between each two adjacent ties.

The principal feature of my invention is providing a heating chamber or chambers between adjacent rails or below the rails and placing in said heating chamber or chambers a burner or burners, whereby the chambers, and consequently the rails, are kept sufliciently warm so that no snow can accumulate thereon.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention the chambers are so constructed that there is an outlet-opening adjacent each movable rail.

A separate valve may be employed for each of the burners 20, as shown at 29, or a suitable valve may be employed in the gasmain controlling all the burners.

Any kind of fuel, either gaseous or liquid, may be employed without departing from my invention, or, if desired, heated air or heated gas may be forced through the pipes and into the burner-openings.

It will be obvious, of course, that by suitable modifications'the invention herein described may be applied to any switch. The construction herein shown is simple and effective and may be applied to any switch without disturbing the rails or the switchoperating mechanism.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a switch, means forming with the ties separate chambers between the adjacent ties, said chambers having outlet-openings adjacent the movable parts of the switch, and burners in the separate chambers.

2. In a switch apparatus, means forming with each pair of adjacent ties a separate chamber beneath the rails of the switch, which chambers have outlet-openin s adjacent the movable rails, burners in each chamber, and a main to which all the burners are connected.

3. In a switch apparatus, movable rails, means forming a heating-chamber adjacent said rails, and burners in said chamber.

4. In a switch apparatus, a movable rail, means forming a heating-chamber adjacent said rail, and burners within said chamber.

5. In a switch and signal apparatus, a movable part, means forming a heating-chamber adjacent said part, and a burner within said name to this specification in the presence of eham}aer. h l h f two subscribing witnesses.

6. n a switc a aratus a ura 'ty 0 burners located adj ent the moBrable arts FRANK YOUNG 5 of the switch, and automatic means to ight the burners.

In testimony whereof I have signed my Witnesses:

Loms 0. SMITH, MARGARET A. DUNN. 

